Filters

You’ve no
doubt seen the articles about influencers who’ve created a new money-making
opportunity – photo filters.

These
filters were formerly utilized solely by professional photographers, who used
them to create effects on many different types of pictures.

Thanks to
Instagram, which was one of the first forms of social media to include easy to
use and add filters, just about every platform has them.

In
addition to this, the average person can purchase and download filters, then
add them to their photo
editing software or social media accounts.

Now,
anyone can make their pictures look perfect.

Anyway,
back to the influencers. Some of them developed their own packages of filters –
the ones that they use on their own social media posts – and have come up with
a way to sell those filters to their followers.

This opens up a new revenue stream for them and allows their followers to feel like they’re “using” a part of them.

Be prepared for more of this in 2019.

Live Streaming

Live
streaming is very popular on Facebook and Instagram, where social media users
can show their followers exactly what they’re doing when they’re doing it.

Even
YouTube has found a way to capitalize on this. (The only form of social media
that hasn’t yet is Twitter.)

Although
these live streams have their negative sides, such as the users who showed
murders in progress, many people see them as something that’s positive.

Influencers, in particular, have begun using “lives” in order to respond to audience questions as they’re asked.

It
connects people in a way that feels more real. Rather than show only their
curated, perfect lives, these live streams highlight imperfections.

This gives them an organic feel that people like.

Videos

Video
marketing is on a rise and YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram have all created
ways to post and share videos.

This is
why this particular form of content is going to remain popular.

If a
picture tells a thousand words, then a video must tell at least 5,000.

It allows
social media users to let their followers in on a snippet of their lives.

Whether
these videos are made at concerts, other events, or even while sitting on the
couch watching television, people will watch them.

No one
wants to read an update anymore – not when they can view a video.

There may even be additional forms of social media that are in development that focus on this market.

Chatbots and Artificial Intelligence

Did you
know that Facebook tracks how quickly you respond to users queries on your
Facebook business page?

This is
why many companies are now using chatbots and artificial intelligence in order
to respond to those questions and concerns.

Larger
companies are using them, as they are cheaper than hiring customer service
representatives to handle these inquiries.

You can expect to see even more of this in the future, especially as the technology gets increasingly smarter.

Generation Z

Generation
Z consists of those who are preteens, teenagers, and even in their very early
20s.

This
precursor to Generation Y barely remembers life without a smartphone or social
media.

They also
have a lot of money to spend on consumer goods, which is why many companies are
steering their advertising to them on social media.

Many
members of this generation also look up to influencers and want to find a way
to become one themselves.

They see
this content as being very aspirational.

On top of this, they’ll continue using social media quite a bit, and you might even see some new forms of it being created in order to market to them.

Short-Lived Content

This is
also known as ephemeral
content development. Good examples of it include Instagram and
Facebook stories, as well as everything uploaded to Snapchat.

These
forms of content stick around for 24 hours (maximum) after they’ve been posted,
although they can be taken down sooner by the user.

What makes them so popular? People like the idea of being able to post things without worrying that they’ll become a permanent record.

The
exclusivity of it matters as well since only a small amount of people can see
those posts before they vanish. It’s like joining a club, one filled with
short-lived content.

In a
world that seems to be moving extremely fast, this content exemplifies the
transient nature of social media.

You no longer have to worry about a story or picture living on forever on the internet (unless someone saves it, that is.)

Social Media Ad Spending Will Rise

Social
media ad spending is beginning to outpace traditional advertising.

More and
more brands are moving to social media, spending their ad budgets on things
like paid placements and influencers.

In 2019,
this will only increase. It seems as though social media is the place to go in
order to reach the coveted 18 to 39 demographic, and certain forms of social
media skew even younger than that, allowing these advertisers to expose their
wares to Generation Z.

Sameer Panjwani

Sameer Panjwani is the Founder & CEO of Directory Maximizer, a manual directory submission service that helps improve website rankings in SERPs.
A man of many talents, Sameer is currently on a mission to help 1 million businesses grow organically through his products and services.

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